Social networks via your TV

Next week I’ll be staying at Lake Como in northern Italy for a couple of days with Deirdré Straughan, a videoblogger as well as Director of Customer Experience for TVBlob.

They’re onto something pretty cool and just announced a beta program that I thought would be worth sharing, especially with my friends in Italy:

We are about to launch a service that will be the first of its kind in the world! In short, this service enables people to video communicate through televisions when they connect our powerful set-top box to a broadband network. Just imagine…you will be able to turn on your television and make video calls to your family, friends, or colleagues, and even “make your own TV”, be for it for live birthday parties, community events, or business meetings. The quality will be just as good as watching TV, and the convenience will be just as easy as using a TV remote control.

We are seeking people to participate in our first public beta test, scheduled roughly from late May to late June. Of course, we will provide our set-top box to you for free during the testing period, but before you say “yes”, there are a few requirements in order to qualify.

Our beta testers must have:

* a FastWeb fiber optic connection – to ensure enjoyable image quality, you must have at least 1000 kbps in both download and upload. If you’re not sure of your connection speed, please go to http://meter.mclink.it/applet.html , run the test there three times in a row, and let us know the average resulting speed for “Velocita’ upload”;

* the ability to connect your broadband router to our set-top box (which will sit next to a television);

* a videocamera (older analogue or newer digital models are fine, but not a webcam);

* time and inclination to video chat every day for at least a few minutes over at least a 2-week period;

* willingness to supply detailed feedback regarding any problems or suggestions; and

* willingness to host one of our team members for a brief evening meeting during which s/he can observe and discuss your user experience.

An important component of the testing process will be the interaction between users spread across multiple cities, in particular, Bologna, Genoa, Milano, Roma, and Torino. To this end, another important requirement for participation is the ability to create your own “community” that includes four other enthusiastic beta testers (ideally across multiple cities) who also meet the same requirements (i.e., broadband connection, TV, videocamera). Your “cluster” may include family, friends, relatives, or colleagues – preferrably, a group of people who would enjoy actively communicating with each other.

We believe that the service will offer special benefits to
these groups:

* Families: e.g., families with young children and/or teenagers and
grandparents;

* Friends: e.g., groups of friends linked by childhood, schools or
other connections;

* Special Interest Groups: e.g., people who are passionate about a special interest such as electronics/computers (i.e., “gadgeteers”), wine, film, travel, gay/lesbian issues, or sports;

* Community Groups: e.g., public interest groups, volunteer groups or special associations such as those for the disabled or elderly;

* Businesses: e.g., companies with multiple locations who would regularly use video conferencing.

So, what’s in it for you? Well, first off you’ll be one of the first in the world to actually “talk through your television”. Above and beyond that, at the end of the beta testing period, we will offer steep discounts to testers who decide that they’d like to continue using the service.

This technology has been in development for over three years and this is one of the final steps before launching the company and service into the market. It’s a fantastic service and great fun to use, plus we will be adding so many other services ranging from video on demand to music downloads to photo emailing that will make your participation even more entertaining and useful!

If you’re interested, please write here.

Here is an explanation in Italiano.

JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.